In class, we have been discussing various examples of monopolies in the tech world, such as AT&T and Google, and they ways that these monopolies affect the consumer. There are many examples of monopolies in the tech industry, especially in emerging markets based on newer technology, such as online video streaming.
The streaming industry is a great example of monopolistic competition. The three largest companies are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu. Together, these companies dominate the streaming industry and control the majority of the US market.
Like in other tech sectors, a monopoly in the streaming industry is not always bad for the consumer. If the market was more competitive, consumers would have to purchase subscriptions to multiple services in order to watch every movie and show they want to. Currently, consumers only need to subscribe to one of these top three services in order to access almost everything they want to.
https://www.statista.com/topics/842/netflix/
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/10/netflix-reaches-75-of-u-s-streaming-service-viewers-but-youtube-is-catching-up/
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/051215/who-are-netflixs-main-competitors-nflx.asp
https://www.slashfilm.com/netflix-price-hike/
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I feel like emerging tech industries are weird examples of oligopoly. Yes it's true that Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu control large shares of the market, but they can't stop every firm from entering the market. They could probably crush startups pretty easily, but the streaming oligopoly cannot exclude other tech giants who want to expand into the new streaming market. This is why smaller services, like Youtube TV or Facebook Live, have not been totally destroyed by streaming giants: even if these services are new, they have huge companies (that are oligopolists/monopolists in other industries) backing them up.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anya. I think this is a great example of an oligopoly. I really like how you point out the positives within this system. Specifically, how consumers only need one subscription in order to watch their desired content. It's interesting how our there are so many negative connotations around monopolies and oligopolies; most of them are justified. It's fascinating how competition can sometimes be detrimental to the consumer.
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